Maryland Controls Syracuse for Sixth Straight ACC Crown

Maryland celebrates its sixth
straight ACC Championship at Boston College Sunday afternoon,
having handed Syracuse its second defeat of the season - both
coming at the hands of the Terrapins. (Maryland
Athletics)

In-Game Blog Replay

That simple post-game saying by University of Maryland sophomore
midfielder Taylor Cummings was a mantra that colored Sunday's ACC
women's lacrosse championship between the Terps and Syracuse
University.

Cummings won 10 draw controls to the Orange's three in the first
half alone, giving Maryland the possession edge that helped them
earn a decisive 13-7 win over Syracuse for their sixth consecutive
and final ACC title. After going into halftime up only two goals,
the Terps used defensive changes in the second half to limit a the
Orange to only two second half goals.

The defeat was Syracuse's scond of the season, both of which
came at the hands of the Terrapins, whose lone loss was against
North Carolina.

Cummings was the perfect example of Maryland's well-rounded team
win. She added three more draws in the second half, while scoring
three goals (one in the first, two in the second), picking up a
game-leading three ground balls, and covering Orange offensive
threat Alyssa Murray, for an overall stellar day for the Terps.

"She's a competitor," said Maryland head coach Cathy Reese
post-game. "She was able to control the draw for us, and on both
ends of the field as well. We had her marking Murray for part of
the game, and then our whole offensive unit played well today. We
didn't make passes that weren't there. We were able to get a good
look on the cage. She did a good job for us all over the
field."

Cummings won the opening draw control, which led to an Erin
Collins shot that sailed over the net. A brief Orange possession
was tangled up midfield, and Brooke Griffin picked up a ground ball
to hand possession back to Maryland. Griffin passed it to Kelly
McPartland, who shot it back to her, setting her up for the opening
goal less than three minutes into the game.

Syracuse's Kasey Mock went off for a hit that allowed Griffin to
score another goal four minutes later, but Murray would answer with
her 47th goal of the season four minutes later to get the Orange on
the board. Teammate Kayla Treanor evened the game up with a free
position shot just over a minute later.

The teams traded goals, but a series of goals by Griffin,
Cummings and McPartland opened up a three goal lead for Maryland
with twelve minutes left in the first half. Treanor used her
physicality to open up a space in front of the Terps' net and have
a clear shot to finally stop Maryland's scoring streak. On the next
possession, Griffin controlled the ball behind the Syracuse goal,
dodging hard stick work by Orange defender Kasey Mock, to find Jen
Mendez, who had been subbed in just minutes prior, who shot center
on goaltender Kelsey Richardson to give Maryland a 7-4 lead. After
possessions stopped up by calls for each team, Taylor Poplawski
used a great cut in front of the Maryland net to score to bring the
Orange within three. Maryland turned up the pressure on Syracuse in
the half's last five minutes to limit their opportunities.

Reese made some changes to her defense in the locker room at
halftime with hopes of further limiting Syracuse's possession
time.

"It is really hard to stop Treanor and Murray," said Reese.
"When they get going, they can be really damaging. Treanor had
three goals in the first half, and we needed to find an answer. We
needed to make sure we were crashing in and getting our slides
there. We needed to have them pass the ball more instead of attack
us one on one."

The changes worked. Maryland continued to dominate time of
possession, and scored the first three goals of the second half,
including two Cummings goals, to take a 10-5 lead. Katie Webster,
who led the way for Syracuse in their semifinal win against North
Carolina, finally got on the board halfway through the second half
for the Orange's first goal of the frame to bring Syracuse within
four. Maryland took it from there, dominating the ball and
pressuring Syracuse hard when they were able to snag possession for
the rest of the game. The Terps added three more goals in the last
14 minutes to put the game away.

In addition to Cummings, Griffin also led Maryland the game with
three goals. Treanor led the way for Syracuse with her three first
half goals.

Post-game Syracuse head coach Gary Gait was disappointed, but
easily identified what had gone wrong for his team.

"They had possession 70 percent of the game, and that tires you
out. We couldn't hit that switch to get it going the other way,"
said Gait.

For Reese, the title marked the end of an era, as the Terps will
play in the Big Ten Conference next year. "It's been an emotional
week for us. I think the history behind Maryland lacrosse, and the
tradition of it in the ACC, is special. This was a special moment
for us. This is a championship I'm really proud of, and I'm really
proud of the girls and how they executed."